Motor-operated article dispensing machine



May l, 1951 w. s. TANDLER .ETAL

MOTOROPERATED ARTICLE DISPENSING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 17, 1947 INVENTORS. wlLuAM STANDLER DAVID s.wAL-KER BY @www Mum THEIR ATTORNEYS.

Patented May l, `1951 MOTOR-OPERATED ARTICLE DISPENSING MACHINE William S. 'Tandler and David S. Walker, New York, N. Y., assignors to Vendomatic Machine Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application'April 17, 1947, Serial No. 742,165

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in dispensing devices and it relates particularly to de-l vices by means of which merchandise such as books, packages, containers and other block-like articles can be selected and dispensed automati- Y pensed thereby are arranged to be discharged by f gravity and upon discharge to discontinue the dispensing or vending operation.

Other objects of the invention and the advantages thereof will become apparent from the following description of a typical form of vending or dispensing device embodying the present invention.

Typical dispensing devices, in accordance with l the present invention, may include one or more units, each adapted to dispense articles one by one therefrom and each of the units being actuated by a small electric motor which may be set into operation to discharge the article and is deenergized by discharge of the article.

More particularly, each of the dispensing units may include a generally vertically disposed hopper member adapted to receivea stack of articles to be dispensed, the lower-most article being supported on a pusher member having an inclined upper surface so that the articles are supported in inclined relation to the axis of the hopper member. Near the top-of the hopper member is a discharge opening through which the uppermost article can slide when it has been elevated to the level of the lower edge of the opening. The articles are directed downwardly by a suitable hood onto a platform provided with a switch which is actuated by the weight of the article to 'shut off the supply of electrical energy to the motor and thereby stop the dispensing operation.

A series of the dispensing units may be arlil 2 the use of an electrical motor which `is so arranged that the rotor of the motor is shifted endwise when the armature of the motor is energized. Advantage is taken of the endwise shift of the rotor to complete a holding circuit for continuing the operation of the motor until the article has been dispensed.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a typical form of dispensing device embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a View in section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2 with the electrical circuit shown diagrammatically thereon; and

Figure .4 is a diagrammatical illustration of the coils and rotor of the motor used in each unit.

The dispensing device I0 chosen for purposes of illustration includes four dispensing units II, I2, I3 and I4, all of which are alike. Each unit may consist of a hopper member I5 of generally rectangular or square cross-section, as shown in Figure 3, formed of sheet metal or other suitable material. The hoppers I5 of each of the units II, I2, I3 and I4 are mounted on a suitable base member I6 which may be formed of a pair of channel-shaped metal plates Iliaand I6b, welded to the bottoms of the hopper members I5 vand joining them together in unitary construction.

Each of the units, for example, Ythe unit II is provided with a box-like cover I'I (Figures 1 and 2) which is connected by means of a hinge I8 to the top of the hopper I5 so that it can be swung upwardly to permit the hopper to be iilledwith a plurality of articles AI, A2, A3, etc. The front of the cover Il may be provided with a hasp and latch arrangement I9 of any desired type, which may be secured by means of a padlock 20,- or any other type of locking mechanism, to retain the cover I1 in closed position.

` Below the dividing line between the hopper member I5 and the cover I1 is a discharge opening 2I through the wall of the member I5, through which articles may be discharged, as shown in Figure 2. Ahood 22 is provided to cover the opening 2| and prevent manual re, moval of the articles therefrom. The hood may be provided with an inclined upper wall 22a', a substantially vertical front wall 22b and generally trapezoidal side walls 22e. The bottom of the hood is open to permit the articles to drop downwardly therethrough.

clined supporting surface for-the articles.AIA2 A A3, etc. As best shown in `li'il'gu're '2,the articles are supported in echelon or in inclined relationship to the axis of the hopper member I5.and.are normally urged by gravityv against. rthe-waltv of the hopper member below the'opening- -2I When the pusher member 25 is moved upwardly, the

articles will clear the lower edgev 2.-Ia of ytliegopenying 2|, and as they clear this edge, the f ore of gravity will cause the upper-most article to slide through the opening 2 Il, 'downwardly through the hood 22 onto a platform 26 mou'nted in the` front of" the dispensing unit, from Which it maybe removedby the operator.

1, 1f-, Oider to as's'u're the discharge of the upper'- VOSQ article, the cover. IL'I may be Provided with 'an inclined cam plate Ila extending transversely of the cover in the path of the upper corner of 'the articles so that thev article is pushed. toward the opening 2'I as the article comes linto alignment with the opening. In thiswaythe articles are positively'discharged even if .there isV some tendency for the articles-to 'stick together.

'I he pusher member 25, as illustrated, .maybe moved upwardly along the hoppernmember, I5 by means of an electric motor 21 and .associated gearing 28. The motor 21p'referably is a: shaded pole vvalternating current motor of the type now commonly used in fractional horsepower .appl-ications.V 1 Itwill be understood, of. course, that for installations handling heavy articles, more pow,- 'erf-ul electric motors may be used; A feature of -tjhe'motor 21, as shown inL Figure '4., -is the .provision'of a rotor- 21awhich operates between the vpole"pieces 21h arid-21e and is supported by a sh'ft ira that moves axially tosperimip the Lrotor "to movefbetweei the? dttedand f u-ll line positions fshownQffIfhus, whenthe-poles of 'the motor are deener'gized, therotorj21- willfbef-inthe full line lp tositio'n'and out ofaligrmient withjthe pole pieces vO-'tire motor. when theneidwindin'gsmi the "poles are energized, .the rotorj is shifted axially into the dottediinej positionV inaiignment with the poles. Advantage Yis taken, of this movement 'o'r a purpose tobe described later" herein.

.The'ca'sin'gZQ of lthe motor 2 1 preferably is mounted on a plate member SUIvvhich is, secured tothe Ys'ideplate 25a o 'f'thepusher ,member with .thei motor 21 extending partiallythrough the side plate 25d. The rotor Ashaf't`21cl is provided with a' gear 3I which meshes with alarger gear32 carried .on a shaft, net 'showm'whichextendsbetween a bearing in the: casing 29 of the motor and abearing mounted lin a T T-'shapedy plate 33. {Eigurs 2 and 3) onthe motor. casi n g 29.

A second smaller-ggear-35I is fiXedtO the gear 3.2 and drives anotherlarger gea r3 6 supported .on ashaft 1-mounted in a bearing 38'f1xed to the .platel'll The shaft 31 alsocarries a largen gear 39. 4that extends through a notch in the. bottom ,platel25c and meshes-with aracl 40 .fixed toithe back wall of and extending 'parallel to the long-itudinal axisof the`hopper memberI-5. Thus .when Vthe `motor-21 is energized, the` ge'ar39 is lrolled along the rack 4,0 by means of,u the reduce vorieacl'i ofV itslsides. The rollers bear against the rails 46, 41, 48 and 49 fixed to the interior of the hopper member and extending vertically therein. Asbest shown. in Figure 2, the rails 48 and 49Y terminate at the lower edge of the opening 2| so that the articles AI, A2, A3, etc., which may `bexwider.'tharrthe-pusher mem-ber 25, may pass Vthrough the opening 2 I Inasmueh-f as Athe combined weights of the articles AI,-A2';-A3; etc., the pusher member 25 andthenrotork2,11, together with the gearing 28,

` may be sufficient to cause the pusher member to move'downwardly in the hopper member when the motor 21 is deenergized, the pusher member 2.5. islprovided- With 'a1 .pivoted pawl member; 50 carried atits upperf edgeA which cooperateswith arack or ratchet 5.I- mounted in theinterior of the hopper. memben I 5;V The pawl 5e vmaybe swungV out ofcengagement with the rack by means of a finger piece or lever 50a thereon to permit the pusher member toghe-lowered or retracted inthe hopper.

TheplatforIn-Zf-,for Areceivingthe discharged articlemayaconsist of ha@ generally square or `rectangular plate havingan .upturnedlip 26a..` "The 4`platform 26 is. proyided with downwardly turned lugs f :26hI by;,mean,s; o f whichthe-platform V26 is pivotally supported o naI -rjod o r shaft 52;- extending between theflanges 5 5 and;- 54 which extend upwardly from the base plate member Ib., .The platform 26'is normally mged upwardly by .means of a spring:l 55;whicl i5 is interposed between the bottom-of the platform 2Q and `aiiange 5 6fstruck out from the wallof thehoppenmember I 5., The forward end of theplatform.:-2.6.bears agfrfl'st a spring member. 51,=for. actuating the microswitch !ZEhe-frneI nber 51f as for-'ined of a pair o interconnected metal strips 515iY and lband' is lpivot- -allymou nted o n the ears-5 8 thatfextend vupwardly from the upper. surface of a microswitch r 59. -The contactsv of; themicroswitch 59 are normally closedfwben theiletfgrm Z-BS-.GRYatSd but .are opened wl-remt pl zt'forrn.2' 6 'is-p depressed. jby

means of.l an article falling thereon.

,Adjacent tothe mieroswitchis-afmanually operated push ,button .switch 6,0 of the lmomentary contact type-,which also is .mounted on the base portion-|611.

Eachof the above-described units may include the astructurerdfer-ibed above, ,and futh'en eajch of these units -is-providedwith a limit, switch 5I mounted in 'thecover I' I so asfto prevent overrumnng Qfthe-ipusher member, 2 5. whfe n ,a`ll of the articles havebe discharged.

Asil Shown;i

ure 3, the unit. may be 'connected to th terminalsf64and V65 which .are adapted tonfbe connectedtoa, po ,vverl line. The 4terminal `6 5 is, `connevcted-by ofnductor` 6.6 to one terminal-- 61; Gfxtheimirewth-Sl The .vpro-Site terminal .7681- o-f the microswitch is connected. by thejconducor GS tofa .ontact 10a of as witch or relay 10 having itsmoyable contact. engaging. the rotor. shaft, 21d; of the .,motor. .An oppositexed contactrjb is; v conne ctedby the y`co1 1'ductor 1| and-the fcgndiwiorzflltek-.011e terminal f the motor 21 Thelopposite .terminant of'l the motor is connected ,by the. conduction-.1 3 vtolthe contact 6 Ia ofthe n @rmfllr cedflmiifs. tchffhwpposite sent-'ict 16 lbibeing; geraamte@ bythe @,Onudtorl'fl `:to 1 the .terminal 64. Lnected. also by the conductor I5 to one vcontact of the switch 60, and the other normally open The 'conductor II is con- 59, conductor 69, conductors i6 and 12, switch 60, conductor l5, the motor terminals', conductor 13, contacts Gla, 6Ib of the limit switch, and conductor 'I4 to the terminal 6.4. Upon energiza- .tion of the motor 2, therotor 21a isi set into operation and also shifts axially, thereby closing lthe, contacts 10a and 10b and forming a holding 4circuit as follows:

Terminal 65, conductor 66, microswich 59, conductor 69, contact 16a, contact :'Ib, conductor 'I I, motor terminals, limit switch 6I, conductor V'I4 `to terminal 64. The motor 2'I .continues to oper- `ate until the microswitch 59 is opened by the discharge of an article onto the plateform 26 or until the limit switch 6I is opened by engagement of the pusher member 25 therewith.

It will be understood that the other units I2, I3 and I4 may be connected similarly to a source of electrical energy.

It will be understood further that the circuit may be modied substantially and selective controls provided so that only one of the dispensing unit motors will be energized even if several of the selector switches 66 are actuated simultaneously. Moreover, if desired, the limit switch 6I may be used to actuate signalling means, such as, for example, an electric lamp, bell or buzzer to indicate that the corresponding dispensing unit is empty.

'Ihe above-described dispensing mechanism has the advantage that each of the units is identical so that the devices having diierent numbers of units can be produced merely by assembling a desired number of the units on a suitable base member. Moreover, inasmuch as each of the units has its own motor for actuating it, mechanical connections between various units are completely eliminated.

Repair and replacement of parts of the device is greatly facilitated by the structure described above for the reason that the only operating parts, namely the motor and gearing mechanism, can be removed from the top of the dispensing unit without disconnecting any of the mechanism other than the electrical conductors. Also, dispensing units of the type described above are quite compact for the reason that the articles are disposed in vertical rows and the individual hopper members need only be large enough to receive the largest packages to be dispensed therefrom. The overall height 0f the device can be varied, of course, to accommodate a larger or smaller number of articles.

Another advantage of the device is that all of the articles to be dispensed therefrom need not be of the same size for the reason that the device is responsive only to the discharge of an article independently of its size. Therefore, thick and thin articles can be assembled at random in the hopper member I5 without aifecting the operation of the dispensing device in any way.

From the preceding description of a typical form of dispensing device embodying the present invention, it will be apparent that such devices havemany advantages and that they are susceptible to considerable'modication without departing from the invention. Therefore, the form Tof the invention described above should be considered as illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

We claim: 1` A'dispensing device comprising a substan- :tially vertical tubular member for receiving a stack of articles, said member having at least one substantially vertical side, a pusher for engaging at least one of said articles to advance said articles along said member, said pusher having an upper surface inclined downwardly toward said side at an acute angle to the axis of said member for supporting said articlesin an inclined position with respect to said axis and in sliding engagement with each other and said side, a discharge opening in said side adjacent lto the upper end of said member, an electric motor mounted on and movable with said pusher for moving said pusher along said tubular member to bring said articles successively into alignment with said opening for discharge by gravity from said stack through said opening, a movable platform for receiving an article from said opening, and a switch opened by movement of said platform to deenergize and stop said motor.

2. A dispensing device comprising a substantially vertical tubular hopper member, a pusher member movable up and down said hopper member, said pusher member having an acutely inclined upper surface for supporting a stack of articles for relative sliding movement toward one wall of said hopper member, a discharge opening in said one wall through which the upper-most article in said stack can slide when it comes into alignment with said opening, an electric motor mounted on said pusher member, a Xed rack extending vertically in said hopper member, and reduction gearing interposed between said rack and said motor for moving said pusher upwardly when said motor is energized.

3. A dispensing device comprising a member for receiving a row of articles, a pusher member movable along said receiving member for advancing said articles along said receiving member toward one end thereof, said receiving member having .an edge at said one end over which said articles are discharged to fall by gravity, an electric motor mounted on and movable with said pusher member, manually operated means for starting said motor, a rack xed to and extending lengthwise of said receiving member, reduction gearing connecting said motor to said rack to move said pusher member toward said one end of said receiving member upon energization of said motor, a switch for stopping said motor, and means below said edge engageable by an article discharged over said edge for actuating said switch to stop said motor.

4. A dispensing device comprising a member for receiving a row of articles, a pusher member movable along said receiving member for advancing said articles along said receiving member toward one end thereof, said receiving member having an edge at said one end over which said articles are discharged to fall by gravity, rollers on said pusher member, guide rails on said receiving member engaging said rollers for guiding and supporting said pusher member, an electric motor mounted on and movable with said pusher member, manually operated means for starting said motor, a rack xed to and extending lengthwise of said receiving member, reduction gearing connecting said motor to said rack to move said pusher member toward saidV tion :o'f sai'd .motor, azfsw'itch:r for. vstopping` Ssad ixnotonand: meansfbe'l'ow saidedge kengsagealole=by an article dischargedwov'er saidedge for/actuating said switch to stop said motor.

5. 11a-dispensing' devicecomprising amemfber vfor :receiving a row o'f articles, .a pusher member .movable along saidA 'receiving .memberxforzfadvancing said articles ,along :said receiving memeber toward 'one end Lthereof, saidreceivingnmemberzi'raving an edgeat said one'fendf-ov'er which said. articles, are discharged to :fall by gravity, an Aelectric ,motor mounted 'on .and...movab1'ezwith :said pusher member, manually operated means for starting said motor, a rack .fixed toxandfexvtending lengthwise of said receivingimember vreduction gearing connectingl saidrmotor to said Vvra'ck'to move vsaid pusher fmember iowardsai'd :oneiend of said receiving memberupon. energiza- --tion 'of .said motor, releasable pavviv and ratchet 4meansonV said receiving member andsaid pusher member for restraining thexlatter against move- `.ment away from said one Aend kof said :receiving vinemb'er, aswitch forl stopping said` motorfand -rneans below-.sami.edgerengageabiefbyzan: article discharged over saidffed'ge for .actuating-said fswtch tostoptsaidumotor.

WILLIAM TANDLER.

DAVID s. WALKER.

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